Our Mission and Purpose
OutstandingLife's mission is to improve the quality of life of LGBTQ+ older adults by creating opportunities for connectedness through free online programming. We currently serve hundreds of LGBTQ+ seniors through our virtual senior center.
We provide a platform and a safe environment that fosters joy and independence. We are a diverse community committed to uplifting our members most impacted not only by homophobia and sexism but through systemic racism, transphobia, and income inequality. As life expectancy grows, we are living well into our 70s, 80s, and beyond. Longevity requires new ways of connecting and thinking about our wants and desires in what we need and want to do during our entire lives. We want to treat each person with dignity and respect and help people achieve their best life.
Despite increased physical longevity, social isolation and loneliness are leading causes of increased risk for emotional, cognitive, and physical health among older adults. According to psychologist Louise Hawkley, PhD, a senior research scientist at the research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, loneliness can wreak havoc on an individual's physical, mental and cognitive health. Hawkley points to evidence linking perceived social isolation with adverse health consequences including depression, poor sleep quality, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular function and impaired immunity at every stage of life. Older LGBTQ+ adults have been at an increased risk for deteriorating health. Many do not have children or family members who, traditionally, are the companions and caretakers of older adults.
THE NEED
In Sean Cahill, PhD's report for the Fenway Institute's "LGBT Aging 2025: Strategies for Achieving a Healthy and Thriving LGBT Older Adult Community in Massachusetts", he identifies key themes of social isolation and lack of connection from numerous listening sessions across Massachusetts that include social isolation and lack of connection, the need for:
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- social activities that create a sense of community and belonging
- targeted support groups and services
- hardware (computers, tablets), internet access, and technical assistance to isolated, low-income LGBTQ elders so that they can access virtual support groups and other services
Older LGBTQ adults have been at an increased risk for deteriorating health. Many do not have children or family members who, traditionally, are the companions and caretakers of older adults.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Welcome to OutstandingLife, an online community designed for and by LGBTQ+ older adults and their allies. As the new Executive Director, I believe that creating intentional spaces for the LGBTQ+ community to connect, experience joy, and thrive contributes to a healthy life. My goal is to continue to build this platform side-by-side with the community I love most. You are an important part of helping OutstandingLife reach often-isolated LGBTQ+ older adults.
MEET OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
David Conner
Board of Directors
David Aronstein
David Aronstein has been an activist for LGBTQ+ rights and leader of a number of LGBTQ+-focused organizations. After receiving his Master's in Social Work degree, he founded the Gay and Lesbian Counseling Program in Salem, MA in 1982. He became part of the senior management team at the AIDS Action Committee of MA helping to grow AIDS Action from a small team of mostly volunteers to a large organization with 100 employees and an annual budget of $7 million. He founded Stonewall Communities whose primary mission was to build a residential community for LGBTQ+ older adults. He co-founded the LGBT Aging Project and the Stonewall Life-long Learning Institute which is now at UMass-Boston. Before retiring in 2019, he led the Boston Alliance for Community Health for eight years. David lives in Jamaica Plain, MA with his husband, Steven.
David Aronstein
Cynthia Wilkerson
Cynthia has over 15 years of program development and management experience. She has a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Boston University's Questrom School of Business. Cynthia is a member of several advisory boards and committees, including the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative's Executive Committee, Northeastern University Office of City and Community Engagement's Community Advisory Board, and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School's Health Assistant Program Advisory Committee. In her free time, Cynthia is an avid movie and museum goer.
Cynthia Wilkerson
Alice Fisher
Alice Fisher is a lifelong advocate and activist in the LGBTQ and disability communities. She earned her PHD in 1980 and wrote a dissertation about lesbian mothers. When not fighting for some cause she can be found hanging in her garden at Montgomery Park entertaining neighbors and friends. She has been on the board of Women and Disability, Stonewall Communities, The Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, The Equality Fund, The Advisory of Age Friendly Boston, City School, and the City of Boston Commission for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Board and a number of political campaigns.
Alice Fisher
Mark Hatch
Mark works in tech and has been a part of many successful start-ups for over 20 years, and has also helped to found non-profit organizations along the way. He designed and built software applications for multi-lingual Machine Translation systems, on-line banking, large-scale data applications, and Social Media Analytics and Marketing. Mark holds an MBA from Northeastern University and also attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He has taught Computer Science and Mathematics in the Massachusetts State College System for the past 30 years.
Mark Hatch
Dale Mitchell
Before his retirement in 2019, Dale enjoyed a long career in social welfare policy, advocacy and program delivery. He was a policy analyst for Low Income Planning Aid, a community action back-up center; a public-interest lobbyist for Meredith & Associates; an assistant administrator for the Boston Housing Authority; and CEO for Ethos, a Boston-based non-profit specializing in community-based services for the elderly and disabled. He authored the Poor People's Budget, an advocacy tool for better understanding the state budget; oversaw the development of award-winning programs for BHA youth; developed groundbreaking transitional housing programs for people with AIDs; created first-in-the-nation programs for LGBTQ elders; and was co-founder of the LGBT Aging Project and the Mass. LGBT Aging Commission. In recognition of his work on LGBT aging, Dale was named Boston Pride's 2019 Grand Marshal. He lives in Jamaica Plain with his husband of forty-plus years, David Imming.
Dale Mitchell
Associates and Volunteers
Julie Nowak
Julie Nowak (she/they/xe) is the LGBTQIA+ Initiative Coordinator for Springwell, leading their outreach to older adults in the rainbow community and hosting talks, events, and cultural competency trainings that help build understanding and create affirming spaces where everyone is welcome! She is a facilitator for the Concord, MA chapter of Greater Boston PFLAG, a community of grassroots support groups embracing families with LGBTQIA+ loved ones; the Concord chapter includes several "late bloomers" and is very good for people who are questioning or coming out as mature/older adults.
Julie Nowak
Julie Nowak
Amy Ruiter it the Program Coordinator for OutstandingLife. Her background is in Human Services, Education, and The Arts. She considers her true passion to be creating and facilitating quality programming that creates connections for people. Amy holds a BFA in Painting from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA, and an MS in Arts Administration and Cultural Entrepreneurship from Northeastern University. In her spare time, she loves planning trips to Walt Disney World, visiting museums, and spending time at the beach with her kids and their giant dog Teddy.
Amy Ruiter
Kathy Esparza
Kathy Esparza is a daughter of the Andes, born in Quito, Ecuador, and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. She is an immigrant, a youth worker, a community weaver, and a storyteller. Kathy is a mujerista – and deeply influenced by mujeristas who have paved the way for us to breathe a bit lighter today.
She believes in a collective liberation centered on rest, joy, love, reparation, and re-imagination of the impossible becoming possible. Kathy is also a mixed medium artist who writes and creates pieces in Spanglish and in the mixness of her essence. Her work discusses intersectional identities as well as the joys and aches of her human experience.
Kathy holds a BA in International Development and Women’s and Gender Studies as well as a Certificate in Youth Work from Clark University and has over ten years of experience in non-profit, government, higher education, and philanthropy.
Kathy Esparza
Stephenie Hou
Stephenie has over five years of experience with managing in-person and virtual intergenerational programs, connecting high school/college-aged youth and older adults at Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly Boston. She earned her BS in Social Work at Bridgewater State University. After graduating college, Stephenie served two years as an AmeriCorps Massachusetts Promise Fellow and helped youth grades 8-12 on college and career readiness as well as volunteer and community engagement. She then went on to work as a bilingual SCO Case Manager at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services and was later given the opportunity to have her dream job working with intergenerational programs at LBFE. Stephenie is looking forward to serving on the Program Committee at OutstandingLife and planning social programs for LGBTQ+ older adults to build friendships and community. Originally from Fall River, MA but now calling Leominster home with her fiancé Courtney, Stephenie also enjoys painting handmade watercolor cards, doing arts and crafts, playing tennis, volleyball, hiking and kayaking.
Stephenie Hou
Rev Jelle Johns
Rev. Johns is a Pastoral Thanatologist, Clinical Chaplain and Psychospiritual Counselor. She strongly believes in addressing grief and the hard topics surrounding loss that are so important in healing ourselves and the community. She works as a chaplain in hospice, does community education on all things thanatology (death. dying, grief and grieving) and has a private counseling practice as well.Rev. Joelle Johns
Would you like to Volunteer for a program? Please let us know!